Chapter 2

Rosella's POV

Back then, Matteo paid an enormous price just to marry me.

Standing before Domenico, he had wagered his life on a game of revolver roulette. Expressionless, he spun the cylinder of the revolver, pressed the barrel against his chest, and pulled the trigger.

The moment the gun went off, a violent spray of blood completely soaked through his shirt and blurred my eyes. I cried as I rushed him to the hospital and kneeled outside the operating room doors, praying for his survival.

Thankfully, he made it.

We held our wedding in a chapel after that. He had looked at me with those deep blue eyes and delivered his vows with absolute gravity and devotion.

"I, Matteo Adorni, take you, Rosella Martini, to be my lawfully wedded wife. From this day forward, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, I will love, honor, and cherish you, until death do us part."

But now…

I looked over at Giorgia, who was standing beside the cradle, happily playing with the baby inside.

Sensing my gaze, she shot me a provocative look and slid the ring off her left hand before dropping it onto the floor on purpose.

I immediately lunged forward to catch the ring, yet the moment I reached her, she suddenly collapsed onto the floor and took on a fragile expression.

"Don't hit me! Matteo… Save our baby!"

When Matteo whipped his head around and took in the scene, his eyes were full of pure panic. "Rosella! What did you do to Giorgia again?"

He coldly marched over and swung his arm out to shove me away. I crashed heavily onto the floor and knocked my head sharply against a corner of a desk.

Meanwhile, the ring hit the floor, and the brilliant green emerald split cleanly in half.

"No…"

Tears of fury streamed down my face as I clutched the broken pieces of the ring. I wanted to scream at him, but blood from my forehead was pouring faster now. My voice had lost all its strength.

"Matteo, she broke my mamma's ring!"

But Matteo acted as if he hadn't heard me at all.

As my vision grew increasingly blurred, all I could hear was his voice drifting further into the distance. "Giorgia! Are you okay? What about the baby?"

He carried Giorgia away and never once looked back at me.

…

When I finally regained consciousness, I was still lying on the freezing floor. A pool of bright red blood had spread right before my eyes.

As it turned out, I could be bleeding out right in front of Matteo, and he would even turn a blind eye to it.

Looking down at the pool of blood, I suddenly laughed a hollow, miserable laugh. With all my strength, I pushed myself up into a sitting position and reached into my pocket for my phone before calling an ambulance.

The doctors rushed me into an examination room. By the time they dealt with the wound, my head spun so violently from the severe head loss that I could barely stand on my feet.

I stumbled out of the room, only for someone to suddenly seize my wrist tightly.

"Rosella!" Matteo's voice was tight with suppressed anger. "Why did you follow us all the way to the hospital?

"Stop throwing these childish tantrums! We're leaving in a week, so can't you just yield to Giorgia for now?"

His brows were tightly furrowed, and there was a sharp, freezing chill in his gaze. His clothes still carried Giorgia's heavy, suffocating perfume.

"I didn't come to the hospital for her," I said, pointing at the fresh bandages wrapped around my forehead. "I was severely injured, too, but I couldn't handle the wounds by myself."

Matteo froze. Only then did he finally notice the thick, metallic scent of blood hidden beneath the disinfectant smell. Blood was still seeping through the thick bandages.

He frowned and reached out to touch the wound, looking utterly heartbroken. "How did this happen?"

"You pushed me," I replied in a flat voice and stepped back to evade his touch. "I hit the corner of the desk, but you didn't even notice me, did you?"

Matteo's pupils contracted. That was when he recalled the moment he saw Giorgia on the floor, and how he had been so frantic to rush her to the hospital that he had carelessly shoved me aside.

He hadn't given a single thought to what would happen to me. Giorgia was all he could think of.

Overwhelmed with guilt, he pulled me into his arms. "I'm so sorry, Rosella. I didn't mean to, and I was just terrified something would happen to Giorgia.

"The doctors confirmed it's a boy. Papa will never let us off the hook if anything goes wrong, and our departure will be delayed again…"

I let him hold me and stared blankly up at the sterile white ceiling. I had heard these words far too many times.

"I understand," I said, pushing him away. "Go and take care of her."

Just as I turned around to leave, he grabbed my wrist again.

"Rosella, you have to believe that no matter what happens, you're the only one I love. Everything I'm doing is just so we can escape this prison as soon as possible."

He brushed his fingers against my bandages with a remarkably soft touch. "I'll have the butler take you home. Don't let the wound get wet."

He let go of my hand and added one last thing before turning to leave, "I'll bring you your favorite cranberry cake when I get home."

With that, he turned and walked toward Giorgia's VIP ward at the end of the hallway, while I stood there, watching him disappear into the distance.

Suddenly, I started laughing so hard that tears slid down my face.

"I don't believe you anymore…" I whispered to the air, and to my heart that had finally died. "Matteo, I won't believe a single word of your promises anymore."